Roundup: Eight Mini-ITX Mainboards for LGA1155 Processors. Page 10

Miniaturization of computer systems is a very popular tendency. It is now settling in the desktop segment, where Mini-ITX platforms become more and more popular. We decided to check out all Intel H67 Express based Mini-ITX mainboards available in the today’s market for hit Sandy Bridge processors. So, today we are proud to offer you a roundup covering the following products: ASRock H67M-ITX/HT, ASUS P8H67-I Deluxe, ASUS P8H67-I, ECS H67H2-I, Foxconn H67S, Gigabyte H67N-USB3-B3, Intel DH67CF and Zotac H67ITX.

Testbed Configuration

When we tested LGA1155 Mini-ITX platforms, we did two things.

First, we assumed that potential buyers of compact systems will not use 95 W processors, but will go with more energy-efficient CPUs with lower power consumption. Therefore, for our tests we chose a quad-core S-series CPU with 65 W TDP. It was Intel Core i5-2400S working at 2.5 GHz nominal clock speed, which can be sped up to 3.3 GHz in Turbo mode.

Second, we didn’t use an add-on discrete graphics card and used the integrated Intel HD Graphics 2000 graphics core. Of course, this isn’t the best gaming solution, especially since all our today’s tested mainboard allow using an add-on graphics card, but we believe that integrated graphics will become a more popular choice for a Mini-ITX system after all.

Other than that, our standard test platform remained the same. It included the following hardware and software components: